Biker war vigilance urged by Winnipeg police

Police are stepping up public vigilance of biker violence in Winnipeg by alerting residents who live in a neighbourhood with a known gang member.

They will not identify any specific house, but will tell residents they could see an increase in police patrols.

"Officers will also be asking for the public’s assistance in reporting any suspicious activity in their neighbourhood," spokesman Const. Jason Michalyshen said Friday.

"Our goal is to create a heightened awareness in an effort to combat these recent events."

Michalyshen would not say which neighbourhoods the police are monitoring, noting the violence is not confined to certain areas.

A wave of violence — shootings, firebombings — has erupted in Winnipeg during the past month and police have attributed it to a battle between the Rock Machine and Hells Angels biker gangs for "supremacy" of the local drug trade.

Over the course of four days this week, four firebomb incidents were being investigated by police. Two business and two homes were hit with molotov cocktails but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, CBC News has obtained court documents that provide a little more information on one side of the war: the Redlined Support Crew, a Hells Angels puppet group.

Members of the RSC, the street enforcers for the Hells Angels, operate out of a building in an industrial park on Bowman Avenue in Elmwood, court documents state.

People who work in the area are reluctant to talk about their neighbours but told CBC News there is always a lot of action around the club, and plenty of police presence.

Security cameras monitor the doors of the clubhouse, which share space with auto shops and small warehouses.

Documents state the Redliners answer directly to Hells Angels members, and brothers, Dale and Rod Sweeney.